Microsoft Pushes Deeper Into the SMB Space

In the fall, Microsoft will be releasing Small Business Accounting 2006 in direct competition to Intuit’s Quickbooks and Sage’s Peachtree. Microsoft is also planning to offer vertical versions of the product. This was normally left for Microsoft partners to do.
The Associated Press writes The company has hired more than 200 people including doctors, bankers and plant managers to help it write software for specific industries, and it plans to roll out a program called Small Business Accounting this fall that will compete with accounting programs such as Intuit Inc.’s QuickBooks.
Ballmer said he believes business software will increasingly become a product that is ready to use off-the-shelf, rather than written for individual businesses as is done now, often by small software firms.
Ballmer said the products it plans will fit naturally with its current Office software. Still, some competitors are wary. Read the full story here